TWO Williamtown pilots are set to be the first Australian aviators to fly Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) jets and will head to the US to train in the craft and show others how it is done.
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When the first JSF, or F-35A Lightning II aircraft, lands in Australia, Squadron Leaders (Sqn Ldr) David Bell and Andrew Jackson will be at the helm, tasked with getting Williamtown's first squadron operationally ready and off the ground, hopefully by 2020, according to Sqn Ldr Bell.
The two were selected for their flying skills, leadership and experience.
Sqn Ldr Jackson, a qualified Fighter Combat Instructor with extensive experience on FA-18 Hornets, will head to the US in early November to begin his instructorship at a multinational Pilot Training Centre, and in 2015 will be joined by Sqn Ldr Bell, also a qualified test pilot with years of experience on F/A-18s.
"A new plane doesn't come along often in a career, not fighters," Sqn Ldr Jackson said.
"It is a generational leap ahead of the Super Hornet."
Sqn Ldr Bell said to be one of the first Australian pilots to operate a JSF was a privilege.
"Professionally, I feel very privileged and personally it feels very exciting" he said.
Between 2015 and 2018 the pair will train Australian pilots up to instructor level in the US.
Those pilots will then train others, a process Sqn Ldr Bell likened to leapfrogging.
The advantages of the JSF, according to Sqn Ldr Bell, were its information gathering, its sensors and its ability to share information with other aircraft.
"This means everybody can make smarter decisions in a more timely manner," he said.
He said flying in formation while using the radar and a map could get "very, very busy" and the JSF would simplify it.
"The JSF can do what the Hornet can do and more," he said.
Sqn Ldr Bell got his wings in 2004 and has operated out of Williamtown regularly ever since.
"I wanted to do this [flying] since I was four years old and now I get to do it."
"Coming into land I take a couple minutes just to look out the window and I have to pinch myself."
Sqn Ldr Jackson has been at the Williamtown base since 1999 and flying Hornets since 2000.
For him the introduction of the JSF was "very exciting" and a once-in-a-career opportunity.
For now, the Australian government has approved the purchase of 14 F-35A aircraft.
